All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before rehearsals to the performance rights holder. No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained. No rights in incidental music or songs contained in the Work are hereby granted and performance rights for any performance/presentation whatsoever must be obtained from the respective copyright owners.

When world-famous painter Paul Sorodin dies it is, for his friends, a tragedy, but for the world, a catastrophe. Adding to the trauma of the loss it seems, at first, that the master left no will, meaning his wife, estranged from the great man for more than twenty years, is set to pocket his entire lucrative estate, the proceeds from a lifetime of producing renowned and valuable art.

However, Sorodin's bereaved friend and valet Sebastien does produce a will, sent to him personally by the great painter, which states unequivocally that while his estate will go to his wife, that estate is worth nothing – for Sorodin was a life-long and inveterate fraud who never painted a picture in his life.

Written originally as a vehicle for Sir John Gielgud who directed and starred in the play's premiere at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 1956, Nude with Violin is a light comedy of manners that reflects on the nature of art and its value, and cost, to society.